Mr. Powell is a cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University where he received his B.A. in religion with a concentration in philosophy. He is also a graduate of the University of Virginia where he received an M.A. in ethics. After college he taught in inner-city schools in Los Angeles, California, and Houston, Texas, with the Teachers of America Program.
Mr. Powell served as Associate Director for the Center for Communication and Educational Technology at the University of Alabama before attending the University of Alabama School of Law.
Since graduating from law school, he has been in private practice (with the law firm of Phelps, Jenkins, Gibson & Fowler in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) focusing mainly on education law. He came to The University of Alabama in 1998 as a practitioner in elder law with the Law School’s Clinical Program and a research assistant and course associate at the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. Mr. Powell began an appointment as Lecturer in the Legal Writing Program at the University of Alabama School of Law in 2000.
Since 2003, Mr. Powell has also been serving as Director of the LL.M. in Taxation Program. Most recently, he has been working to expand the program nationwide through the use of new technology allowing the program’s nationally renown professors and practitioners to interact with students through live video, audio, and via chat discussion.
He is co-author of The Bill of Responsibilities and Schafer’s Dilemma as well as author of “Five Recommendations to Law Schools Offering Legal Instruction Over the Internet.”
His current research addresses the role of technology in legal education.